In his review for Different Truths, Dr Gill explores a high-stakes legal thriller where political conspiracies, secret escort services, and shocking assassination plots collide within the White House.
Mystery writer and law Professor Mark Reutlinger emphasises that his research into the operations of escort services and call girls was “purely academic and not practical.” Combined with his knowledge of child abuse, To Seduce a President, published by Wild Rose Press, USA, 2025, makes for a gripping thriller of corruption and conspiracy to subvert the American presidency. It is a gem of political wishful thinking brought to life, written with a lawyer’s focus.
Shadowy conspirators in To Seduce a President consider the sitting president to be a carbuncle on their ambitious backsides. They seek to get rid of the White House’s rent-free tenant and come up with a plan that their mirrors dutifully applaud. Dethroning senior US public servants through evidence of marital infidelity and sleazy sex is a tried, tested and largely failed enterprise in the United States, which periodically throws bones to the press for an enthusiastic squabble.
The puritan roots of the USA notwithstanding, Americans bypassed marital infidelity and sexual overdrive to casually forgive fifty-year-old Bill Clinton for ‘smoking a cigar’ in the Oval Office in the company of an attractive, twenty-two-year-old, wide-eyed intern. Not so Nixon — but then he had broken their constitutional trust and sent plumbers to fix leaky pipes!
As in all clandestine operations, access and infiltration are almost half the battle, and this group of conspirators decide to obtain their goal by third-party proxy: recruit a professional lady of flexible virtue, get her to marry the president’s brother so she may be able to seduce the president, get caught and then keep screaming blue murder for the press and Congress until the president vacates the White House.
The first step goes smoothly. Suzanne Dahlstrom, a child abuse victim, resets her past misfortune through her bedroom skills as an accomplished, high-class call girl. She accordingly bewitches into marriage Adam, the serving president’s brother, her gateway to success.
But then, as every good plot relies on twists, the expected happens: she falls in love with Adam and backtracks from the previous arrangement with the conspirators.
Die-hard villains would have either killed Suzzanne or held a loved one hostage to coerce her to fulfil the contract. However, the conspirators decide to flip seduction into assassination.
Left with no choice, Suzanne attempts it but loses her nerve just as Adam bursts onto the flagrant scene. The drama piles up to a stunning and memorable finale.
Mark Reutlinger is a professor emeritus of law. His successful cosy mystery series has been published by Random House. He is also a reviewer for the “New York Journal of Books”, keeps up a law treatise, and is the Executive Director of the Tacoma Concert Band, in which he plays. A dedicated writer, he is constantly retrieving scribbled notes from his pocket and from his nightstand!
To Seduce a President’s plotting is fast-paced and neatly knotted with plot twists. As gripping as the action and suspense, the character development within the bildungsroman framework is enthralling. It focuses on the psychological and moral growth of a young woman with a background of child abuse and violation. Her suffering even seeps into the sanctity of the Oval Office.
To Seduce a President is also an insight into backroom muck at the highest levels of governance, exposing the hypocrisy of its members and collaborators under whose patronage murky escort services flourish with impunity to provide important people with sleazy relief — and did I catch a whisper of Epstein and Maxwell?
Like many great story ideas, Mark gets his from real life.
“Made in China” developed while building the family home, “Mrs Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death” from an after-dinner joke, and the characters of To Seduce a President just self-birthed to dictate who and what they were, bringing along their own situations and plot twists. Mark Reutlinger isn’t tied down to a framework but kicks off with a sketchy outline and then submits his plume to the characters and story.
To Seduce a President is more than just an elegant addition to the conspiracy thrillers dealing with the American presidency. It is distinguished by its unique plot and cross-genre stature. The conspirators’ innovative plan and Suzanne’s survival of infancy cross-hatch political intrigue with sociology and mental health.
Mark Reutlinger’s meticulous research is, indeed, worthy of a veteran academic. He delved into the American presidency, the effects of childhood sexual trauma on young women, and the escort business of paid sex for people of high influence — sifting, analysing and transforming raw data into a high-quality, didactic thriller.
Even the secondary characters’ stand-alone potential could provide material for sequels, were the author so inclined. Marguerite, the African-American call girl who introduces Suzanne to the profession, seamlessly flits from one world to another, adapting her accent, mannerisms and actions to each — custom designed for continuity.
From subgenres to style, Mark Reutlinger’s writing admits the influences of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Donald Westlake, John Dortmunder and Janet Evanovich. What he actually says about writing is a thought-provoking peek into a writer’s mind.
“Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ In my case, ‘I write, therefore I am.’ I’ve been a writer my entire adult life. As a lawyer and law professor, writing has been a necessary part of my profession. But writing about the law requires strict adherence to the truth and absolute accuracy, with footnotes.
“Writing novels frees me to use my imagination, create my own world with whatever ‘facts’ I wish. I’ve found it quite liberating.
“I write to make a point … to have fun with lovable characters … or just to tell a good story. I also write novels because it gives me an excuse to learn about subjects I might never otherwise have examined, whether it’s recent Chinese political history …, Jewish traditions … Yiddish curses … escort services.”
A copy of To Seduce a President would temptingly enrich a discerning nightstand before tucking into its home on a selective bookshelf.
Cover photo sourced by the reviewer
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